Reference

Metrics dictionary

What every number on ykb.football actually measures. The stats built from public play-by-play show their formula; the ykb grades describe the football they capture.

Field & territory

How much of the field a team took, and where it started from.

Ground

How much of the field in front of you that you actually take.

Every drive starts somewhere, and wherever it starts there is a fixed number of yards between the offense and the end zone. Ground asks what share of those yards the offense actually took. Add up every yard a team gained across a game, divide by every yard that was there to gain at the start of each of its drives, and you get one number for how much of the field it claimed.

The point is to measure territory rather than volume. A team that grinds out 300 yards always starting from its own 20 has done less with the field than a team that gains 250 starting near midfield, because the second team had less in front of it to take. Ground reads those two correctly where raw yardage does not: it stops rewarding a team for the empty yards that come with bad field position, and it stops punishing a team for the short fields its defense earned.

100% would mean scoring on every drive from wherever that drive began.

On team pages Ground is split into offense and defense. The defensive number is the same calculation run against the opponent — the share of the field opposing offenses took against them — so for a defense, lower is better.

How it's calculated

Σ drive yards ÷ Σ yards available at each drive start

DELTA — team grades

Season-long grades for a team and each of its units.

DELTA

A team-season unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

DELTA grades a full team-season on one 0–10 scale, and then does the same for each of that team's units so you can see where the season actually came from. A team can be a 7 overall while its run defense is a 3 — DELTA is built to show you that split rather than hide it inside a single number.

It answers "how good was this team, and at what" for a completed season. It is a season-level grade, so it is not the tool for a single game.

The scale

The scale is anchored to every team-season since 2005, so the number means the same thing in any year and you can read a unit at a glance. 10 is the best unit of the last two decades and 0 is the worst; 5 is a comfortably average team-season, and most units land between 3 and 7. Because it is fixed to that 20-year history rather than re-scaled each season, grades compare cleanly across years.

DELTA — Offense

Offense unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The offense as a whole — passing and rushing together, on the same 0–10 scale as the overall grade.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Off Pass

Off Pass unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The passing offense on its own: how much of the team’s offensive standing comes from throwing it.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Off Rush

Off Rush unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The rushing offense on its own: how much of the team’s offensive standing comes from running it.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Defense

Defense unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The defense as a whole — against the pass and the run together.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Def Pass

Def Pass unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The pass defense on its own. Higher is a better defense, not a better opposing passing game.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Def Rush

Def Rush unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

The run defense on its own. Higher is a better defense, not a better opposing running game.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

DELTA — Special Teams

Special Teams unit grade. Roughly 5 is average, higher is better.

Kicking, punting, and the return and coverage units. It moves on a smaller number of plays than the offensive and defensive grades, so it swings harder year to year.

The scale

See alsoDELTA

ykb savant — player grades

Player grades, scored against everyone else at the position that season.

Quarterback

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a quarterback's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below — efficiency, how much of that efficiency comes on harder throws, decision-making, and how he holds up under pressure — and weights the ones that most separate good quarterbacks from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see where it came from. Two quarterbacks with the same grade can reach it differently: one on steady, efficient volume, the other on a few games where he was the main reason the offense scored.

The scale

Scored 1–10 against the other players who qualified at the position that season. A 10 is that year’s best in the pool, so a grade ranks a player among his peers — it isn’t built to compare across seasons.

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

PROFIT

QB efficiency. The overall impact they deliver snap after snap.

PROFIT is a quarterback's overall efficiency: what each dropback is worth once every outcome is scored by how much it raises or lowers the offense's chances of points. A completion short of the line to gain is worth less than one past it; sacks and interceptions count against him, touchdowns and conversions for him.

Over a season it rewards the quarterback whose play helps the offense score, not the one who accumulates yards that don't. Most of the other QB grades measure this same efficiency in a narrower situation.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

SCOPE

Target depth matters. Profit by depth — but deep balls matter most.

SCOPE is the same efficiency as PROFIT, weighted toward the harder throws — the intermediate and deep ones, where the window is smaller and the reward larger.

Compare it to PROFIT. A quarterback who works mostly underneath can have a strong PROFIT and a lower SCOPE; one who wins downfield will have a SCOPE above his PROFIT. The difference between the two shows how much of his value comes from throwing into tighter, higher-value areas rather than taking the safe completion.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

RHYTHM

Quick processor? Rhythm is Profit on quick, in-structure throws.

RHYTHM is PROFIT limited to throws made on time and in structure — the ball out when the design calls for it, before the pass rush changes the play. It measures whether a quarterback is accurate and decisive when the intended read is open.

A high RHYTHM points to a quick, on-schedule processor. A low RHYTHM next to a strong PROFIT points to a quarterback who produces more by improvising than by operating on time.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

THREAD RATE

Dime rate. Is the QB dropping dimes into tight windows?

THREAD RATE is how often a quarterback completes a throw into a window tight enough that only an accurate ball gets there — the covered receiver rather than the open one. It credits throws that beat good coverage instead of ones a coverage bust left easy.

It's a rate, so it rewards making these throws consistently, not once a game. A quarterback can succeed with a low THREAD RATE by taking what the defense allows; a high one means he completes throws the coverage should have stopped.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

FAULT RATE

Danger rate. How rarely he puts the ball in harm’s way.

FAULT RATE measures how often a quarterback puts the ball in real danger of a turnover, whether or not the defense converts it — the near-interception counts, because a dropped one was still a bad decision.

It's framed so higher is better: a quarterback who rarely throws into danger scores well. It's the discipline side of THREAD RATE; together they tell apart the quarterback who is aggressive and careful from the one who is only aggressive.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

COMPOSURE

Cool under fire. Profit when the pocket is collapsing.

COMPOSURE is PROFIT measured only on snaps where the pocket broke down and a rusher reached him or nearly did. It asks whether a quarterback's production holds up when the play stops being clean.

Every quarterback is less efficient under pressure, so COMPOSURE is read against the rest of the league, not against his own clean-pocket number. A quarterback who stays productive with the rush on him grades well even when the raw pressured numbers are low.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

MITIGATION

Damage control. Keeps pressure from turning into sacks and hits.

MITIGATION measures what a quarterback does once pressure arrives — how often he keeps it from turning into a sack or a hit. The pressure itself is often the line's doing; the response is his.

A quarterback with high MITIGATION gets the ball out, escapes, or throws it away instead of taking the loss. It pairs with PRESENCE: MITIGATION is handling pressure, PRESENCE is not causing it in the first place.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

PRESENCE

Pocket feel. Doesn’t create his own pressure by holding the ball or drifting into trouble.

PRESENCE is pocket feel — the share of a quarterback's pressure that he brings on himself. Not every pressure is the line's fault; some are the quarterback holding the ball too long, drifting into a rusher, or climbing into trouble he could have stepped away from.

PRESENCE isolates that self-inflicted portion and grades it so higher is better: a passer who rarely manufactures his own pressure scores well. It's the difference between a quarterback who is pressured and one who is the reason he's pressured.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

THREAD RATE (PRESSURED)

Dimes under duress. Still hits tight windows with a rusher in his face.

The same tight-window throwing as THREAD RATE, limited to snaps where the quarterback was under pressure. Completing a throw into a small window is hard on its own; doing it with a rusher arriving is harder, and most quarterbacks' accuracy into tight windows drops sharply once the pocket breaks.

A quarterback who keeps making these throws under pressure has an uncommon trait. Compared with the clean-pocket THREAD RATE, it shows how much of his tight-window accuracy holds up when he's hit.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

FAULT RATE (PRESSURED)

Poise when it breaks down. Protects the ball even under pressure.

FAULT RATE limited to pressured dropbacks — how well a quarterback protects the ball when the play is breaking down. Most dangerous throws happen under pressure: the throw made late, across the body, or with a rusher arriving.

Framed so higher is better, it rewards the quarterback who takes the sack or throws it away instead of forcing a throw into danger. It measures discipline in the situation where discipline is hardest.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

Wide receiver

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a receiver's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, from getting open to what he does with the ball to how reliably he catches it, and weights the ones that most separate good receivers from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether a receiver earns it as a separator, a threat after the catch, or a dependable target.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

PROFIT

WR efficiency. The overall impact they deliver snap after snap.

PROFIT is a receiver's overall efficiency: how much his targets are worth once each outcome is scored by how it changes the offense's chances of points. A catch that moves the chains is worth more than one short of the sticks, and a drop or a stop for no gain counts against him.

Over a season it measures how much a receiver's targets actually help the offense, not how many yards he piles up.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CLEAR

How often they get open and present a clean target on pass plays.

CLEAR is how reliably a receiver gets open. It measures how often he separates from coverage and gives the quarterback a clean target, before accounting for whether the ball actually came his way.

A high CLEAR means a quarterback can usually find him open. A low one means he wins in other ways, at the catch point or after it, rather than by separation.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

RUNWAY

Juice after the catch. Turns short throws into long gains.

RUNWAY is what a receiver does after the catch: the yards he adds once the ball is in his hands, turning short and intermediate throws into longer gains.

It rewards receivers who are dangerous in the open field, and it is where screens, slants, and crossing routes turn into real production.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BREAK

Tackle breaker. Slips, shrugs, and runs through would-be tacklers.

BREAK is how often a receiver makes the first tackler miss, counted against how often he has the ball so it credits consistency rather than one highlight.

It is a large part of what separates receivers with similar catch totals but very different yardage: the extra yards come from beating the man in front of them, not just the throw.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CHAIN

Drive extender. Turns their touches into first downs and touchdowns.

CHAIN measures how often a receiver's catches move the offense forward, specifically into first downs and touchdowns.

Two receivers can gain the same yards while one does it on drive-extending catches and the other in spots that matter less. CHAIN rewards the first: the receiver whose production shows up on the sticks and the scoreboard.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

AMP

QB booster. Makes quarterbacks better when the ball goes their way.

AMP measures how much better a quarterback plays when he throws to this receiver. When the ball goes his way, does the passer's efficiency rise or fall?

A high AMP marks a receiver who makes throws easy and rewards even average quarterback play. It captures value that a raw catch line can miss.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TORCH

Man-coverage killer. Beats his guy when it’s one-on-one.

TORCH is how a receiver does against man coverage, when it is him against one defender with no help. It measures how often he wins those matchups outright.

It isolates the trait defenses fear most in a single receiver: the ability to beat a cornerback one-on-one and force a defense to change how it plays.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRUST

Reliable catch rate. Keeps the ball safe in his hands.

TRUST is a receiver's reliability catching the ball: how rarely a catchable pass ends up on the ground. It is framed so higher is better, rewarding sure hands.

A receiver can be explosive and still score low here if he lets too many get away, which is why it is read next to the production grades rather than on its own.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

Tight end

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a tight end's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, both his work as a receiver and his blocking, and weights the ones that most separate good tight ends from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether a tight end earns it as a pass catcher, a blocker, or a complete player who does both.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

PROFIT

TE efficiency. The overall impact they deliver snap after snap.

PROFIT is a tight end's overall receiving efficiency: how much his targets are worth once each outcome is scored by how it changes the offense's chances of points. A catch that moves the chains is worth more than one short of the sticks, and a drop or a stop for no gain counts against him.

It prices the situation, so it rewards the tight end whose targets help the offense rather than one who accumulates quiet yards.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CLEAR

How often they get open and present a clean target on pass plays.

CLEAR is how reliably a tight end gets open: how often he separates from coverage and gives the quarterback a clean target, before accounting for whether the ball came his way.

A high CLEAR means a quarterback can find him open against linebackers and safeties. A low one means he wins at the catch point instead of by separation.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

RUNWAY

Juice after the catch. Turns short throws into long gains.

RUNWAY is what a tight end does after the catch: the yards he adds once the ball is in his hands, turning short and intermediate throws into longer gains.

For a bigger player it often shows up as falling forward and dragging tacklers rather than pulling away, but the effect is the same: extra yards the throw did not provide.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BREAK

Tackle breaker. Slips, shrugs, and runs through would-be tacklers.

BREAK is how often a tight end makes the first tackler miss, counted against how often he has the ball so it credits consistency rather than one highlight.

At the position it is often about power through contact as much as elusiveness, and it separates tight ends with similar catch totals but very different yardage.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CHAIN

Drive extender. Turns their touches into first downs and touchdowns.

CHAIN measures how often a tight end's catches move the offense forward, specifically into first downs and touchdowns. Tight ends live in the middle of the field and on the goal line, where this matters most.

Two tight ends can gain the same yards while one converts and scores and the other does not. CHAIN rewards the first.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

AMP

QB booster. Makes quarterbacks better when the ball goes their way.

AMP measures how much better a quarterback plays when he throws to this tight end. When the ball goes his way, does the passer's efficiency rise or fall?

Tight ends are often a quarterback's safety valve, so a high AMP marks the reliable target who bails out a play and rewards even average quarterback play.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TORCH

Man-coverage killer. Beats his guy when it’s one-on-one.

TORCH is how a tight end does against man coverage, when it is him against one defender with no help. It measures how often he wins those matchups outright.

A tight end who can win one-on-one is a matchup problem, too quick for most linebackers and too big for most safeties, and TORCH captures exactly that edge.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRUST

Reliable catch rate. Keeps the ball safe in his hands.

TRUST is a tight end's reliability catching the ball: how rarely a catchable pass ends up on the ground. It is framed so higher is better, rewarding sure hands.

For a position asked to catch in traffic, dependable hands are much of the job, which is why it is read next to the production grades rather than on its own.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

TRENCH

Blocking backbone. How well he holds up in pass pro and how much he moves bodies in the run game.

TRENCH is the blocking half of a tight end's job: how well he holds up in pass protection and how much movement he creates in the run game.

A tight end who can block changes what an offense can do, letting it keep an extra man in without tipping run or pass. It is what separates a complete tight end from a receiver who lines up next to the tackle.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

Running back

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a running back's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, from efficiency and explosiveness to receiving and pass protection, and weights the ones that most separate good backs from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether a back earns it on the ground, as a receiver, or as a three-down player who does everything.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

PROFIT

RB efficiency. The overall impact they deliver touch after touch.

PROFIT is a running back's overall efficiency: what each touch is worth once every outcome is scored by how it changes the offense's chances of points. A carry that moves the chains is worth more than one stuffed for no gain, and receiving touches count too.

Because it prices the situation, it does not reward empty yardage the way a raw rushing total does.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BREAK

Tackle breaker. How often would-be tacklers slide off.

BREAK is how often a running back makes a would-be tackler miss, measured per touch so it credits consistency rather than one long run.

Broken tackles are the part of running that is most clearly the back and not the blocking, which makes it one of the truest reads on a runner's own ability.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BOOM

Big-play rate. How often his carries turn explosive.

BOOM is how often a back's carries turn into explosive gains. It measures the rate of big runs, not just that they happened, so a back who breaks a long one every few games grades differently from one who does it once a year.

It captures the home-run element that a yards-per-carry average can hide.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

SNAG

Backfield weapon. How much real receiving value he adds.

SNAG is the receiving value a running back adds: routes run, targets won, and yards created as a pass catcher, not just short checkdowns.

A back who is a real threat out of the backfield changes how a defense has to play. SNAG separates the every-down receiving back from the runner who only stays in to block.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CHAIN

Drive extender. How often his touches become first downs and touchdowns.

CHAIN measures how often a back's touches move the offense forward, into first downs and touchdowns.

Two backs can gain the same yards while one converts and scores and the other piles up yardage between the twenties. CHAIN rewards the first.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

CORE

Honest efficiency. Per-carry value with the breakaway runs stripped out.

CORE is a back's efficiency with his longest runs removed: the value he earns down after down rather than on a few breakaways. A high CORE means a back is consistently productive, not living off a handful of long ones.

Read it next to BOOM. A big gap means a boom-or-bust runner; a small one means steady week-to-week production.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRENCH

Blitz eraser. How often his quarterback stays clean on his pass-pro reps.

TRENCH is a running back's pass protection: how well he holds up when he stays in to block, and how often his quarterback stays clean on those reps.

Backs who cannot protect come off the field on obvious passing downs. It is a quiet grade that often decides whether a back can stay on the field for a full game.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRUST

Reliable hands. How rarely the ball hits the ground.

TRUST is ball security and reliable hands: how rarely a back puts the ball on the ground, counting both drops and fumbles. It is framed so higher is better.

A productive back who fumbles or drops too often scores low here, because those plays cost an offense far more than his yards make up.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoPROFIT

Offensive line

YIELD

Overall lineman grade. Pass pro, run blocking, and discipline in one number.

YIELD is a lineman's overall grade: his pass protection, run blocking, and discipline combined into one 1–10 number. It is the headline grade for a lineman and the one to read first.

The grades below break it into specific jobs, so a lineman can post a strong YIELD on the strength of his pass sets while grading lower as a run blocker, or the reverse.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

WALL

Rep winner. How often his man never touches the quarterback.

WALL is pass protection at its simplest: how often a lineman's man never gets to the quarterback. It counts the reps he wins outright, giving up no pressure, hit, or sack.

It is the most direct measure of whether a blocker can be trusted one-on-one in protection.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

ANCHOR

Immovable object. How dominant he stays in true pass sets.

ANCHOR is pass protection in the hardest situation: true pass sets, the obvious passing downs when everyone knows a pass is coming and there is no run to hold the rusher honest.

Holding up there, without play-action or a quick throw to help, is the sternest test of a pass blocker. A high ANCHOR marks a lineman who wins when the defense has every advantage.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

FLOW

Zone mover. How well he wins on the move.

FLOW is run blocking on the move: reach blocks, climbs to the second level, and combination blocks, the athletic side of the job that zone schemes ask for.

It measures how well a lineman wins when he has to move laterally and reach a defender in space, rather than fire straight ahead.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

DRIVE

Road grader. How far he moves bodies off the ball in power and gap schemes.

DRIVE is run blocking at the point of attack: how much movement a lineman creates in power and gap schemes. It measures raw ability to displace a defender off the ball and open a lane by force.

It is the counterpart to FLOW, the straight-ahead power to its movement.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CLEAN

Self-discipline. How rarely he hands out free yards.

CLEAN is a lineman's discipline: how rarely he gives the offense free yards through penalties, both pre-snap flags like false starts and post-snap ones like holding. It is framed so higher is better.

A blocker who wins his reps but jumps early or holds too often is costing the offense drives, and CLEAN is where that shows up.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

Defensive line & edge

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a front-seven defender's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, from rushing the passer to wrecking the run to making splash plays, and weights the ones that most separate good linemen and edges from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether he earns it as a pass rusher, a run defender, or both.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BREACH

Breaks the wall. How often his rush actually dents the pocket.

BREACH is a defender's pass rush at its core: how often he disrupts the pocket, whether or not it ends in a sack. Pressure moves a quarterback off his spot and ruins throws even when nobody gets the takedown.

It is the truest read on whether a rusher is winning, because sacks are rare and noisy while pressure is steady.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

ISO

The obvious-pass test. One man to beat and everyone knows it’s coming.

ISO is pass rush in the situation that matters most: true pass sets, the obvious passing downs when the offense is set to protect and the rusher still has to win.

Beating a blocker who knows a pass is coming, with no run to freeze him, is the hardest version of the job. A high ISO marks a rusher who produces when the offense is built to stop him.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBREACH

FINISH

Closer’s touch. How often his pressures become sacks instead of near-misses.

FINISH is how often a defender's pressures turn into sacks rather than near-misses.

Two rushers can pressure the quarterback at the same rate while one consistently brings him down and the other lets him escape. FINISH captures that closing ability, the difference between a hurry and a sack.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBREACH

AXIS

The rush runs through him. How much of his team’s total pressure he generates.

AXIS is how much of his team's pass rush a defender creates himself: the share of the unit's total pressure that runs through him.

A high AXIS marks a rusher a defense leans on, one who has to win for the pass rush to work rather than feeding off others. It separates the engine of a pass rush from a beneficiary of it.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBREACH

STUFF

Run wrecker. How early and how often he blows up runs at the line.

STUFF is run defense at the line: how early and how often a defender blows up a run before it gets going. It rewards the player who wins in the backfield or at the point of attack, stopping runs for little or no gain.

It is the front-line counterpart to the tackling and containment grades behind it.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

HALT

Play killer. How often his tackles are dead ends for the offense.

HALT is how often a defender's tackles actually end the play as a loss for the offense: stops that leave the offense worse off, not tackles made well downfield.

It measures productive, drive-killing tackles rather than tackle volume, which can simply mean a defender is on the field for a lot of gains.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

DENY

Slams it shut. Once he makes contact, how little the offense gains after.

DENY is what happens after a defender makes contact in the run game: how little the offense gains once he is on the tackle. It measures the ability to stop forward progress on contact rather than get dragged for extra yards.

A high DENY means ballcarriers do not fall forward through him.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

CHAOS

Splash rate. Batted balls, forced fumbles, breakups, takeaways.

CHAOS is a defender's splash-play rate: batted passes, forced fumbles, pass breakups, and takeaways, the disruptive plays beyond pressure and tackles. These swing games and end drives outright.

It credits the defender who consistently creates them rather than the one who happened to fall on a loose ball once.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBREACH

Linebacker

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a linebacker's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, from tackling and run defense to coverage and playmaking, and weights the ones that most separate good linebackers from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether he earns it against the run, in coverage, or as an all-around three-down player.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

WRAP

Sure tackling. How often his tackle attempts finish the job.

WRAP is a linebacker's tackling reliability: how often his attempts actually bring the ballcarrier down.

Missed tackles at linebacker turn short gains into long ones, because there is open field behind him, so a sure tackler is worth more than his tackle count suggests. It is framed so higher is better.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

FIT

Gap accountant. How often he turns run snaps into stops in his gap.

FIT is run defense and gap discipline: how often a linebacker takes on his assigned gap and turns run snaps into stops. It rewards the player who is where he is supposed to be and makes the play there, rather than chasing and guessing.

Good FIT is the difference between a defense that holds its gaps and one that gives up creases.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

VOID

Dead air. How rarely quarterbacks test his zone.

VOID is how quarterbacks treat a linebacker's zone: how rarely they throw into the area he is responsible for, and how little they get when they do.

Quarterbacks avoid defenders who take throws away, so a low target rate is itself a sign of respect. VOID captures both the avoidance and the results.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBLANKET

BLANKET

Coverage clamp. How much completions and yards shrink when he’s the man in coverage.

BLANKET is a linebacker's coverage when he is the man responsible: how much completions and yards shrink with him covering. It measures how well he limits the players he draws, tight ends and backs especially.

A high BLANKET means offenses do not find easy throws against him.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRIGGER

Ball magnet. How often plays near him become picks, breakups, and stops.

TRIGGER is a linebacker's playmaking near the ball: how often plays around him turn into interceptions, breakups, and stops. It rewards the instinctive player who reads the quarterback and makes something happen, not just the one who is present.

It is the difference between occupying space and taking the ball away.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBLANKET

APEX

Space survival. How well he holds up one-on-one against slots and backs.

APEX is how a linebacker holds up in space, one-on-one against slot receivers and backs with room to work. It is the coverage assignment that most exposes a linebacker, away from the traffic of the middle.

A high APEX marks a defender athletic enough to cover in space, which is what keeps a linebacker on the field on passing downs.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBLANKET

Defensive back

ykb GRADE

The overall grade — every part of his game in one number.

The overall grade: a defensive back's full season as one 1–10 number. It combines the facets below, from man and zone coverage to playmaking and open-field tackling, and weights the ones that most separate good defensive backs from average ones.

Read it for the summary, then read the facets to see whether he earns it in man, in zone, or as a do-everything defender.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

TRIGGER

Ball magnet. How often his targets turn into picks and breakups.

TRIGGER is a defensive back's playmaking on the ball: how often the throws into his coverage become interceptions and breakups rather than completions.

It rewards the defender who attacks the ball at the catch point, not just the one who stays close. It is the difference between tight coverage and coverage that takes the throw away.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

VOID

Avoid him. How rarely quarterbacks throw his way.

VOID is how quarterbacks treat a defensive back: how rarely they throw at him, and how little they get when they do.

Quarterbacks avoid corners they do not trust themselves to beat, so a low target rate is a compliment the coverage earns. VOID captures both how often he is tested and how it turns out.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

BLANKET

Coverage clamp. How much completions and yards shrink when he’s the man in coverage.

BLANKET is a defensive back's coverage when the ball comes his way: how much completions and yards shrink against him. It measures how tightly he limits the receivers he covers.

A high BLANKET means the throws into his coverage tend to fail, whether he plays the ball or simply gives the receiver nowhere to go.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

APEX

Slot duty. How well he holds up in space against shifty slot receivers.

APEX is slot coverage: how well a defensive back holds up in the space of the slot, against quicker receivers with room to move in two directions.

Slot duty is a different job from playing outside, more about quickness and less about the sideline. A high APEX marks a defender who can handle the hardest coverage real estate on the field.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

MAN

Island cover. How often he wins when it’s just the two of them out there.

MAN is press and man coverage: how often a defensive back wins when he is locked onto a receiver with no help. It is the purest test of a cover man, him against a receiver with the whole field to work.

A high MAN lets a defense trust him alone on an island and send its help elsewhere.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

ZONE

Zone eyes. How early he reads the quarterback and how many windows he closes.

ZONE is a defensive back's coverage with his eyes in the backfield: how early he reads the quarterback and how many throwing windows he takes away. Zone rewards anticipation and awareness rather than pure man-to-man skill.

A high ZONE marks a defender who breaks on throws and shrinks the field by seeing plays develop.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

WRAP

Open-field finisher. How often he ends the catch.

WRAP is a defensive back's tackling in the open field: how often he finishes the play once the catch is made, denying yards after the catch. Defensive backs are often the last line, so a missed tackle becomes a touchdown.

It is framed so higher is better, rewarding the defender who brings receivers down in space.

The scale

Who qualifies

A player needs a full-season workload at his position to be graded. Below that line he isn’t rated at all — an unlisted player isn’t a poor one, just one who didn’t play enough to judge.

See alsoBLANKET

Team efficiency

The play-by-play rows behind the box score and matchup tables.

EPA / Play

Average points added per play, against what an average offense would do.

Expected points is what a typical offense would be expected to score from a given down, distance, and spot on the field. EPA is how much a play moved that number. A 4-yard gain on 3rd-and-8 lowers it; the same 4 yards on 3rd-and-3 raises it a lot.

EPA per play is the average of that across every snap, and it is the closest thing to a single summary of offensive quality. Unlike yards, it knows the difference between a yard that mattered and a yard that did not.

How it's calculated

average EPA over all scrimmage plays

EPA / Dropback

Points added per pass play, scrambles included.

The same measure as EPA / Play, restricted to plays where the quarterback dropped back to pass.

Scrambles count as dropbacks here. A play where the quarterback intended to throw and ran instead is a passing play that ended differently, and treating it as a rush would flatter both numbers — it would strip the worst outcomes out of the passing game and hand the running game a set of carries no running back ever took. Sacks count too.

How it's calculated

average EPA over dropbacks (pass attempts, sacks, and scrambles)

EPA / Rush

Points added per designed run.

EPA restricted to designed runs — handoffs and designed quarterback runs, but not scrambles, which belong to the passing game.

Rushing EPA is systematically lower than passing EPA across the league. That is a property of the sport, not of any one team, so read this against other teams rather than against the passing number next to it.

How it's calculated

average EPA over designed runs (scrambles excluded)

Success Rate

Share of plays that gained enough to keep the offense on schedule.

A play is a success if it added expected points — roughly, if it gained enough for the down and distance to leave the offense better off than it started.

Where EPA per play can be dragged around by a handful of huge gains, success rate treats every snap equally. Reading the two together tells you which kind of offense you are looking at: high success and modest EPA is a methodical team, low success and high EPA is a boom-or-bust one.

How it's calculated

share of scrimmage plays with positive EPA

Explosive Play Rate

Share of plays that were genuinely explosive for their play type.

The share of snaps that cleared the bar for an explosive play.

The bar is not a fixed yardage. It is set from the actual distribution of plays across the league, with separate thresholds for passes and runs, because a 12-yard run and a 12-yard pass are not the same event — the run is well above average and the pass is ordinary. Using one yardage cutoff for both, as most explosive-play stats do, systematically overstates passing offenses.

How it's calculated

share of plays clearing a pool-derived EPA threshold, set separately for passes and runs

Yards / Play

Average yards gained per snap.

Total yards divided by total plays. The oldest efficiency stat there is, included because it is familiar and because it anchors the others.

It treats every yard as equal, which is its weakness — it cannot tell a 9-yard gain on 3rd-and-10 from a 9-yard gain on 3rd-and-8, though only one of them kept the drive alive. EPA per play is the better read; this is the sanity check next to it.

How it's calculated

total yards ÷ total plays

Early-Down EPA / Play

Points added per play on 1st and 2nd down.

EPA restricted to first and second down.

Early downs are where an offense decides what kind of third down it will face, and they are the least situation-dependent snaps in a game — a team playing from ahead or behind still runs first downs. That makes this one of the more stable reads on offensive quality, and a good early-down number is usually the reason a team's third downs look easy.

How it's calculated

average EPA over plays on 1st and 2nd down

3rd/4th-Down Conversion

Share of third and fourth downs that produced a first down.

How often the offense picked up the line to gain when it had to.

Counted on first downs gained, not on touchdowns, which matters more than it sounds: a defensive interception returned for a score on third down is a touchdown on that play, and counting touchdowns would score it as a conversion for the offense that just threw the pick.

Read it against average third-down distance. A team converting 45% from 3rd-and-3 is not doing what a team converting 45% from 3rd-and-8 is doing.

How it's calculated

share of 3rd/4th downs that produced a first down

Avg 3rd-Down Distance

Average yards to go on third down. Shorter is better.

The average distance an offense faced on third down across the season.

This is really a read on early downs. Nobody chooses their third-down distance; it is handed to them by what happened on first and second. A team consistently facing 3rd-and-4 has a functioning early-down offense, and its conversion rate will look good almost regardless of how well it plays on third down itself.

How it's calculated

average yards to go on 3rd down

Line Yards / Carry

The offensive line's share of the running game, per carry.

An attempt to separate what the offensive line did from what the running back did.

The logic is that the line is responsible for the beginning of a run and the back is responsible for the end of it. So the first four yards of a carry count in full, yards past four count for half, and yards lost count for more than full — a run stopped behind the line is charged at 1.2× because that is almost always a blocking failure rather than a running one.

The effect is that a 60-yard breakaway does not show up here as sixty yards of blocking. Read it alongside opportunity rate and stuff rate; together they describe whether a team's running game is built on its line or in spite of it.

How it's calculated

per designed run — yards below 0 ×1.2, yards 0 to 4 ×1.0, yards past 4 ×0.5 — averaged over carries

Opportunity Rate (4+)

Share of designed runs that got at least four yards.

How often the running game gave the back something to work with.

Four yards is the conventional line for a run that has cleared the initial mess and reached open grass. This measures how often that happened at all, without regard for what the back did afterwards — a 4-yard gain and a 40-yard gain count the same.

Paired with stuff rate it gives you the two tails of a running game: how often it worked, and how often it never started.

How it's calculated

share of designed runs gaining 4 or more yards

Stuff Rate

Share of designed runs stopped at or behind the line. Lower is better.

How often a run was dead on arrival — no gain or a loss.

Stuffed runs do disproportionate damage because of what they do to the next down. A single stuff turns a manageable series into 2nd-and-10, and it is the most common route into the third-and-long situations that decide drives.

For an offense, lower is better. On a defensive split, higher is better.

How it's calculated

share of designed runs gaining 0 or fewer yards

Havoc Rate Allowed

Share of plays where the defense made a disruptive play. Lower is better.

How often the offense let the defense blow something up — a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception, or a pass broken up.

It is a single number for the chaos an offense absorbs. Lines that lose reps, quarterbacks who hold the ball, and receivers who lose at the catch point all show up here, which makes it blunt but hard to fake: you cannot post a low havoc rate while consistently losing the line of scrimmage.

"Allowed" means this is written from the offense's side, so lower is better. The same calculation read for a defense is havoc created, where higher is better.

How it's calculated

share of plays with a tackle for loss, forced fumble, interception, or pass breakup

Avg Starting Field Position

Average yards from their own goal line where drives began.

Where an offense's drives started, on average, expressed as yards from its own goal line. Higher is better — a team averaging its own 32 is starting eight yards better than one averaging its own 24.

Almost none of this is the offense's doing. Field position is manufactured by the defense, the punt and return units, and turnovers, which is what makes it worth showing next to offensive numbers: it tells you how much of an offense's production was set up before it took the field.

It is also why Ground exists. Two offenses with the same yardage and very different starting field position did not play the same game.

How it's calculated

100 − average drive-start yardline

Field & territory

Ground

Ground Share

DELTA — team grades

DELTA

DELTA — Offense

DELTA — Off Pass

DELTA — Off Rush

DELTA — Defense

DELTA — Def Pass

DELTA — Def Rush

DELTA — Special Teams

ykb savant — player grades

Quarterback

ykb GRADE

PROFIT

SCOPE

RHYTHM

THREAD RATE

FAULT RATE

COMPOSURE

MITIGATION

PRESENCE

THREAD RATE (PRESSURED)

FAULT RATE (PRESSURED)

Wide receiver

ykb GRADE

PROFIT

CLEAR

RUNWAY

BREAK

CHAIN

AMP

TORCH

TRUST

Tight end

ykb GRADE

PROFIT

CLEAR

RUNWAY

BREAK

CHAIN

AMP

TORCH

TRUST

TRENCH

Running back

ykb GRADE

PROFIT

BREAK

BOOM

SNAG

CHAIN

CORE

TRENCH

TRUST

Offensive line

YIELD

WALL

ANCHOR

FLOW

DRIVE

CLEAN

Defensive line & edge

ykb GRADE

BREACH

ISO

FINISH

AXIS

STUFF

HALT

DENY

CHAOS

Linebacker

ykb GRADE

WRAP

FIT

VOID

BLANKET

TRIGGER